Beer & Cheese Pairing at Lardo v2.0

At Lardo's first beer and cheese pairing it was promised that there would be more in the future. This past Thursday the promise became reality. Five Breakside beers were paired with three Oregon cheeses and one each from Washington and Montana, directed by Steve Jones, Portland's premiere cheese monger.

 

 

I generally enjoy Breakside's beers although I don't visit the brewery as often as I should so four of the beers were completely new to me. The tasting started out with the lowest ABV beer, Cedarbaumbier, an American Wheat Ale brewed with cedar tips and 40% wheat. Both the beer and the cheese, Ferns' Edge Goat Dairy (OR) Mt. Zion, were mild in flavor, complimenting one another nicely.

Up next was MacFischer's Peated Scottish Ale, a beer I would not typically order as Scottish beers tend to be too malty for me and I don't enjoy peat flavor much. However it was not surprising to discover that like other pairings Steve has had a hand in, the whole was far greater than the sum of its components. The peat flavor was subtle and the dryness of the Black Sheep Creamery (OR) Tin Willow Tomme countered the maltiness of the beer.

The third beer, Battle of the Bulge Belgian Stout, was paired with Samish Bay (WA) Ladysmith. Again the beer was of a style I wouldn't typically order but the pairing with this high moisture, salty cheese helped to offset the Belgian characteristics I dislike in the beer.

Aztec Ale was the only beer of the day that I had tried previously. This beer, brewed with habanero and serrano peppers as well as cacao, could be considered Breakside's signature beer. A delicious yet assertive beer, it was well matched with an equally assertive raw cow cheese, Mountina (MT) Mountina Original.

The final pairing of Barberhop Quartet Double IPA, an 8.9% ABV beer brewed with Citra, Cascade, Amarillo and Columbus hops, with Rogue Creamery (OR) Smokey Blue Cheese acted as dessert. The strength of the beer was apparent, although pleasantly so, and along with the creamy smokiness of the cheese made for a pairing that was delicious in a decadent manner.

Each of the pairings were introduced to our end of the table by Ben Edmunds of Breakside in which he discussed the beers' backgrounds as well as details about the cheeses while Steve covered the opposite end. Ben's descriptions of the cheeses were impressive and had Steve been unable to attend Ben would have been able to handle things quite adequately.

 

Compliments and thanks Ben, Steve and the Lardo crew for putting this event together. Now is it too much to ask for v3.0 to come at us in yet another few weeks?

Using Social Media & Using it Well

A Facebook post (which was also fed to their Twitter account) by Stickmen Brewery & Skewery in Lake Oswego Sunday morning quite impressed me. In case you don't follow/like them on one of these mediums here's what they had to say.

We're seeing more & more people stop by before AND after catching a movie next door - keep it up, we love hearing your reviews!
 
Perfect Sunday: Brunch & coffee porter at Stickmen > movie next door > boutique shopping > Big Honey Imperial Kölsch, skewers & sports at Stickmen. Remember that parking is available every weekend at the professional building lot next door.

Showtimes for Lake Twin Cinema |106 N. State Street

Silver Linings Playbook - 12:15 - 2:45 - 5:15 - 8:00pm

Argo - 12:45 - 3:15 - 5:45 - 8:30pm

Not only did the post show their followers how to "use" their product but they went above and beyond by giving movie times for the two films playing. I've often lamented about the lack of use of social media by breweries and brewpubs so it was refreshing to see one who is not just using social media but being thoughtful and creative.

Hopefully others will take notice and imitate because I for one am a fickle consumer. I need reminders of why I should visit an establishment. Certainly the release of a new beer or some other event is something that might draw me in but as the above post shows, it's possible to promote an establishment even when there isn't something special happening. It's about staying in the forefront of customers' minds.

Beer Brawl VI Results

The people have spoken. The results are in. Oregon kicked some BIG beer butt outpacing their nearest competitor, Colorado, by a nearly 2-t0-1 ratio in Concordia's Beer Brawl VI. Each of the 590 taster trays contributed three votes (one in each category) to come up with the following totals.

Oregon 720

Colorado 425

California 365

Washington 260

And now, so that we're on the same page as I muse over some of the results, here are the beers in the order of the taster tray.

 

#1 Pfriem Mosiac Pale Ale (OR)
#2 Stone Pale Ale (CA)
#3 Georgetown Manny's Pale Ale (WA)
#4 Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale (CO)
#5 Hale's Super Goose IPA (WA)
#6 Good Life Descender IPA (OR)
#7 Great Divide Titan IPA (CO)
#8 Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA (CA)
#9 New Belgium Imperial Chocolate Coffee Stout (CO)
#10 Black Diamond Rampage Imperial IPA (CA)
#11 Boneyard Hop Venom Double IPA (OR)
#12 Elysian Manic Series Savant IPA (WA)

The first thing that struck me was learning that #1, a beer that knocked my socks off, is made with the same hops, Mosaic, that I learned through a bottle share on Saturday I really, really enjoy (if you follow me on Twitter you may have seen the tweet).

The next observation was that #4, which I felt was a strong runner up to #1 in the Pale Ale category, was Dale's. I know that this is a beer I've thoroughly enjoyed in the past but it's been quite some time since I last had one. I'm glad to see it still makes my taste buds sing.

My blindly chosen favorite in the IPA category, #6, turned out to be Good Life Descender IPA. I haven't had a lot of Good Life but with this information I'll have to see about having more in the future.

#9, the oddball of the bunch, is a beer I know I've never had before and although I didn't choose it as my favorite in the Open category it was good. Now that I know its identity I hope to find it again as I'd like to have more of it.

I was not surprised at all to learn that my favorite, #11, was Hop Venom. Interestingly, however, #11 did not take receive the most votes overall. That honor went to #6 Good Life Descender IPA while the second most popular beer overall went to #1 Pfriem Mosaic Pale Ale and third place to #9 New Belgium Chocolate Coffee Stout.
With that bit of fun done I'm looking forward to the next "drinking game" Concordia presents to the thirsty Portland masses.